


put out the fire and don't look past my shoulder

by atomicblondie



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:40:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25916005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atomicblondie/pseuds/atomicblondie
Summary: It was dark out and completely silent. The only light to be seen out the window was a street lamp on the road, past the long winding driveway and stone walls surrounding the house. Sansa swallowed hard as she looked at the distance. It seemed endless.“Are you sure you want to do this?” Theon asked in a barely audible whisper.“We have to, we can’t stay here any longer.” She replied, softly but determined.---------------------------Sansa and Theon go on the run.
Relationships: Theon Greyjoy & Sansa Stark, Theon Greyjoy/Sansa Stark, theonsa
Comments: 10
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

It was dark out and completely silent. The only light to be seen out the window was a street lamp on the road, past the long winding driveway and stone walls surrounding the house. Sansa swallowed hard as she looked at the distance. It seemed endless. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Theon asked in a barely audible whisper. 

“We have to, we can’t stay here any longer.” She replied, softly but determined.

He nodded then started trying to jemmy the window. It was locked and the keys were hidden, she’d searched for them but there were areas to the house off limits to her, and that’s where they must’ve been. 

The wood creaked and the pair froze, breath hitched in their throats as they listened, for movement, for voices, dogs, anything that might say they were caught before they’d even started. 

The pair waited in silence for minutes but it felt like an eternity, and eventually Sansa nodded to him. “Carry on.” 

Theon nodded but she could only see a faint movement, then she heard the sound of him working on the window again. 

It felt like time wasn’t passing, nothing was happening and her anxiety was rising with every second. 

**Click.**

The window opened and again they were frozen. In reality it was quiet but to the pair, in the middle of the night, it felt deafening. Surely that had been heard, they stayed still but no one came. 

With calloused hands Theon slid the window up, enough for him to climb through without causing a racket. 

“You go first.”

Sansa stepped forward and looked behind her before she put one leg through the window, sitting on the window sill as she pulled the other onto the open side. She twisted slightly and held on tight, lowering herself down as much as she could until she had to take the plunge and drop. She prayed for a soft and quiet landing. 

She grunted as she hit the ground and immediately drew her hand to her mouth, holding her breath and looking around to check. Guards patrolled the grounds all day and night, they had kept watch every night for the last week to check where people were at what times but it was no use, it was never the same. 

They’d chosen now as it seemed quiet, and thankfully no one seemed to have taken notice of the young woman dropping from the window. She released her breath and looked up to the window. 

“I’m ready.” She whispered up, and a moment after a backpack became slightly visible out the window. Theon leaned down as far as he could while Sansa reached her arms up, shortening the distance as much as possible before he dropped it. 

Sansa placed it gently on the ground before she raised her arms again, catching the other easily.

She stepped back and kept a lookout as Theon clambered out, holding onto the brick windowsill, one armed, with all his strength as he tried to gently close the window behind him. It wasn’t fully shut, but hopefully enough so that it wouldn’t be noticed until they had a chance to disappear into the night. 

He dropped and leaned against the wall, eyes closed and steeling himself for the next danger. 

He felt a soft touch to his arm and turned, despite the dark he could sense the worry in her eyes and tried to give a reassuring smile. He leaned down and grabbed both backpacks, handing hers over and hoisted his own on his back. 

“This way,” he nodded his head to the left, “stay low.” 

They ducked and crept along the side of the grey brick walls of the house until it came to an end. Sansa was just stepping out to continue when Theon grabbed her arm and pulled her back into their hiding space. 

Silently, he pointed his finger round the corner and Sans slowly peeked out. 

A guard dressed in all black, patrolling along the left hand side of the large sprawling garden. You couldn’t see it on him, but he most certainly was carrying a handgun. 

They waited in silence, crouched against the wall as he ambled around the area and looking around before he turned and headed further into the garden. 

“Okay, quiet, go.” Theon guided her past him and followed close behind as they crept towards some bushes close to the tall grey brick wall that went around the whole property. When they got close they both ducked down, searching for the spot of a slight rise in the dirt beneath them.

Theon turned to Sansa hunched forward and clasped his fingers together, holding his hands out to give her a boost. She accidentally knocked his hands with her toes once or twice before actually getting her foot inside the step he was making for her and straightened her leg, pushing herself up. Her hands scrambled for grip over the edge and she managed to kick her leg over the top. They had to be quick, she’d be noticed sitting there before long. 

Sansa leaned forward and held out her hand for him, steeling herself when he took hold and used it as leverage to clamber up himself. They dropped down together and now stood in faded warm yellow light. Theon looked her over, making sure she was still okay and that she was still on board with the risk they were taking. 

She wore an unnerved expression, brushing the grit off her hands. Theon had gotten far too used to that expression loitering on her features for his liking. He hated himself every time he saw it, for letting things go so far. 

He’d seen her recently, sat alone and still, looking like a shell of her former self. It had cut him to the core, and still it had been her that had come to him a week ago. She’d pleaded with him, held onto his shirt and begged for help escaping, but told him that even if he said no she was going to try anyway. 

He’d been shitty, he told her it wasn’t possible. His doom and gloom outlook was unwavering, but neither was she. He caught her preparing a few days after and agreed to help. He’d fucked over the Starks too many times, but he wouldn’t with this. With her. 

She didn’t say anything when she caught him staring, only nodded once. 

Without a word they started to run down the street, into the light and out again. They ran at least a mile, maybe more, until they came to a pounding stop at a bus shelter. 

Theon hunched over, hands on his thighs as he puffed and tried to catch his breath. He’d not exerted himself that much in a long time. He didn’t even remember when. 

She was faring better, hands pumped on her hips as she breathed heavily. they probably had time, but it was impossible to feel safe. A car could swing by any second to drag them back. 

Sansa went up to the schedule and double checked when the bus they wanted would arrive, then looked at her watch. 

“Fuck.” She muttered, they still had ten minutes before they could be on the move again. 

“Do you wanna make a run for the next stop?” Theon asked, now that he could speak again. 

“I don’t know,” Sansa said, putting a hand on the side of her head as the panic started to set in. Heat was flooding her body and she couldn’t think straight, nothing past the idea that he was going to catch them and she didn’t want to think about what he’d do if he did. “I just don’t know! He could get here any second, but what if we run and there’s no buses running to where we need to go from that station, and then we’re stuck here all night and then he will know we’re gone and-“

Theon grabbed her wildly gesturing hands and cut her off. “We’ll wait here.” He made the executive decision, but looked around. “There’s a tree over there, it’s out of the light. We’ll wait in there so we’re hidden. Just in case.” He reassured, pulling her in with him to the tree. They stood on the far side, in the darkest spot and blocked from view by the trunk. 

“We’re gonna get out of this.” Theon told her when the silence dragged on.  _ I’m going to get you out of this _ . 

She nodded but couldn’t hold his eye, he knew that meant she didn’t believe him. 

He wanted to talk more, to make her feel better and to keep her distracted, but she was looking into the distance and the words never came. 

The bus was late and that set Sansa off again. “It’s been cancelled, we’re so screwed, Theon I’m sorry I’ve made everything worse!” She spoke frantically, her voice raising. 

“It’s fine! We can always walk but let’s just wait a little longer okay, it can’t just  _ not  _ come.” He said with faux optimism, leaning round the tree in the hopes he’d see a bus in the distance. 

No dice. 

Still he kept her still and quiet for another five minutes, and then they heard it. The low rumble of an engine. He peered into the road, making sure she stayed hidden just in case. There it was, a blue bus trundling towards them. 

“Come on.” He nudged her arm, then stepped out into the light and ran to the bus stop again. If they’d waited this long and then missed it Sansa would lose it, and neither wanted that. 

The bus halted beside them, the door opened with a loud gust of air, and they stepped inside. 

Theon dug into his jean pockets and pulled out a bunch of coins, handing them over as Sansa hovered at his side. 

There weren’t too many on the night bus, a drunk guy that if she were alone might’ve worried her, and a few teenagers coming back from a night out. 

He touched her back lightly to tell her to move further down, and they picked a seat between the other people. 

Sansa dropped down first and shifted closer to the window, then Theon beside her. She puffed out a sigh, it sounded a hell of a lot like relief. 

It would be an hour and a half on this bus, then they’d swap and catch a forty minute one to their destination. They were in for a long night, but they were moving now.

It would be harder to track them now the bus was beelining it’s way out of town. They had a head start and for a moment, Sansa felt safe enough in their carriage to lean her head on the glass and close her eyes. 


	2. Chapter 2

Theon gently jostled Sansa awake when the first bus approached their stop. He'd pressed the nearest button and they left. Sansa had yawned and wiped her eyes as she stood in the bus shelter, arms wrapped around herself for warmth. It was another wait for the next bus but this time was calmer, knowing the distance between them and the house, and the number of bus stops they could have gotten off at. They both felt more at ease. Not calm, not safe. but not in a state of panic any more. 

"So this one's another three quarters of an hour?" Sansa asked, just to fill the silence for a moment.

"Yeah, then we're on foot to the house." 

"You remember how to get there?" It had been a long time since either of them had been that far north, she'd been thirteen on her last trip. She remembered Theon, Robb and Jon going for a trip once, after Robb and Jon turned eighteen. 

Theon raised his brows and shoulders, "Mmm, should do, pretty sure I was drunk half the time though." Sansa scrunched her nose up with an amused smirk, imagining the mess they must've been. 

"You'll have to tell me those stories some time." 

"Oof," He dipped his head forward, running a hand over his hair. "I don't think Robb and Jon would appreciate that." Plus he definitely didn't come off well in those stories. Sansa's strict judgements had softened in the past few years but they were still there. She wasn't quite so vocal about it, but sometimes he could see it written on her face. Right now, while they were relying on each other so heavily, he didn't want her criticising. They weren't close friends, never had been, but for now they needed to trust each other. Besides, was he even that person anymore? He wasn’t sure and either way, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. 

"So?" 

"Another time." 

Sansa shrugged her shoulders as if she didn't care, but she did. She missed her brothers, Christ, she even missed Jon, and she wanted to hear stories. New stories, because she could pretend it was like seeing Robb again. If there were new stories, it was like having him around still. It had been years since she’d seen him and only a little less since she’d spoken to him on the phone. 

The following silence was awkward and prolonged, neither certain of what to say when they both felt the urge to keep things light. 

“I hope they have breakfast ready when we get there.” Sansa said, and he laughed and nodded but he highly doubted they would. 

The second bus came and they were on the move again, but this time she didn’t sleep. The sun was coming up and glared in their eyes. Sansa wished she’d packed sunglasses. 

He wasn’t vocalising it but Theon felt more nervous with each mile closer to their destination. They were relying very heavily on people they hadn’t seen in years. 

The ride was uneventful and he wished it had been longer. The boredom has been strangely enjoyable. He hadn’t had the opportunity to be bored in a long time. After they made their exit, they hovered at the bus stop for a little while while Theon tried to remember where they were and which way it was to the house. 

“I’m pretty sure it’s this way.” He made a vague motion of his hand and they headed off. 

They walked past streets, turned down others, went left and then turned back on themselves to go right, and Sansa only commented about seeing the same street sign twice before Theon actually recognised something. 

A street sign with ‘Bell End’ written proudly. On the wall behind it, there were slight smudges of yellow spray paint. Theon had done that, vandalised the wall with a dick drawing while he was drunk, thinking he was being hilarious. As if no one had made that joke before. 

Sansa sidled you behind him and snorted a laugh. “God whoever named that made a mistake.” 

“Probably some old guy a hundred years ago,” he commented, “If only he knew what we’d do to his street.” 

“I bet he rolls in his grave every time people like us laugh at it.” 

He looked at her and smiled, it wasn't often that he saw Sansa getting rude like the rest of them. Little miss goody two shoes that ratted him to  _ her  _ parents when he swore. Sure she’d been nine at the time but she still held that air about her. 

Theon managed to find the house fairly quickly after that which Sansa was grateful for, they’d wasted far too much time wandering around. Their head start was slipping away. The house had a long winding driveway past a rock garden and you could see the sheep they kept grazing in a field to the left of the back garden. 

They made their way up to the front door. Sansa checked the watch on her wrist, getting lost had brought them to 7:30am which was a bit early for visitors but it really was a special circumstance. She rang the bell and rolled her shoulders back, poising herself. She felt certain that the Umbers would help them, they were family friends and surely would remember that when they found them on their doorstep. They owed a lot to her late father, surely the least they could do was help his eldest daughter. The last she heard, they’d taken in Rickon. The idea of seeing him again was almost enough to make her weep with joy. 

Minutes passed with no answer and Theon was starting to get anxious. “Maybe you should ring it again.”

Sansa didn’t want to irritate them straight off but desperate to get inside, she pressed the button again. Moments later the door swung open. “What!? Do you know what time it is?” 

“Sm-” Sansa stopped herself, holding off on that childhood nickname that he likely wouldn’t care for these days. Besides, he wasn’t quite as slight as she remembered, certainly not enough to warrant the name Smalljon. He’d grown into his body a little, broadened out, though he was still nothing compared to his late father. “Jon! I’m sorry to call so early but it was an emergency.” 

“Sansa? What’re you doing here? I thought..” 

“Can we come in, please?” She cut him off, just wanting to get inside and maybe feel safe. 

Smalljon stepped back from the door and let the pair inside. In the foyer Sansa looked around. She’d not allowed herself to feel it until now but it felt  _ incredible  _ to be out of that house, to see anything else at all, without an oppressive guard watching her every move. This house looked like a  _ home _ . 

“I’ll let my wife know to set two extra plates at the table.” 

“I can help if she wants,” Sansa offered, but Smalljon shook his head. 

“We need to talk.” 

Sansa glanced at Theon but he seemed to have his best poker face on. She never could read him very well, as much as she liked to think she had good instincts about these things. 

Smalljon returned and waved for them to follow, leading them into his study where he sat behind his desk and interlocked his fingers as he inspected them. Sansa felt the need to primp, make herself look prettier and more put together. If she had the chance she’d reach over and straighten up Theon’s sweatshirt, but there wasn’t the opportunity. 

“You’ve left Ramsay?” 

“I don’t think you could ever call what happened as me being  _ with  _ Ramsay.” 

“Semantics.” He waved it off, “What’s your plan?” 

“I was hoping you could put us up for a couple of days, I know you took in Rickon.” 

“Sure, of course. As long as you need.” 

“Can I see Rickon, is he still asleep?” 

Smalljon looked down at his hands on the desk before shaking his head. “We thought it best he be further away, we put him in a boarding school. Somewhere safe.” 

“Oh.” She was audibly disappointed, but Smalljon didn’t seem to care. 

“What are you going to do long term?” 

“Um, I wasn’t sure exactly. I just had to get away, you have no idea-” 

“Were you heading further north?” 

Sansa stammered as she was cut off, finding it quite rude but Smalljon had never exactly been polite. Thankfully, there was a call from outside the room. “Breakfast’s ready.” His wife singsonged, breaking the tension that was starting to creep up in the office. 

“We’ll continue this later.” He stood and led them into the dining room where his wife had laid out a nice spread of bacon, eggs, and toast with jams and juice. Sansa and Theon had been awake for most of the night and the hunger had set in a good few hours back. They were quick to start piling their plates. 

“It looks great, Mrs Umber.” Sansa smiled, nudging Theon on to be polite.

“Delicious, thank you.” 

As they ate the home cooked meal, Sansa thought of the big family meals her family held when she was young. All of them piled onto a table that was always a tiny bit too small for the amount of them, especially when Robb had Theon over and she had Jeyne over. 

“Maybe later I could call Rickon at his school?”

She didn’t notice the man step in the door, giving a discreet nod to Smalljon. Theon did though, sitting up straight and scrutinising the wordless conversation that was happening. Then the sound of cars pulling into the driveway. He stood and rushed to the window, peering out the curtains. “Shit. You called him!” 

“What?” Sansa looked up startled and rushed to see what Theon was looking at. Her stomach sank at the familiar sight of Ramsay’s truck. “Oh god.” She swallowed hard, wishing she hadn’t eaten as her stomach turned in fear. “How could you? You were friends with my father. Why?” 

“We have to go.” Theon didn’t need answers, people were shitty and they always would be. They couldn’t trust anyone while the Boltons had such a wide reach. 

“Where’s my brother?” She started towards Smalljon, “Where’s Rickon?” It was pointless, he had a guard at the door and Theon grabbed her arm anyway, pulling her towards the back door. 

“Sansa,  _ now _ . We have to go.” 

“Tell me what you did with Rickon!” She yelled but Theon pulled her out of the kitchen. She was resisting, trying to get back. She wanted to throttle Smalljon, scream in his face until he told her the truth about her brother. 

Theon grabbed her shoulders and forced her to make eye contact with him. “Sansa! Ramsay is  _ here _ . We have to go. We can put feelers out about Rickon when we’re safe, but there’s nothing we can do for him if we’re back under Ramsay’s roof. Let’s go.” 

Sansa glanced back to the kitchen one last time before nodding. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a million years later....

**Author's Note:**

> I had a sudden burst of muse in the middle of the heatwave and this is what's come out of it. Should become a series if I don't get too lazy.


End file.
